Also, wasn’t it last year we had Austin’s goal disallowed against Watford? Karma has been coming to them.
I felt that if we put in a shift in the second half that was a poor as the first, Ralph would be lucky to retain his job. It was woeful. Everyone knows that the defence is poor but the likes of Redmond, PEH and JWP were shocking whereas playing Obafemi seemed like a mistake. In fairness of Ralph, he made two substitutions which transformed the match. If we had being playing well all seeming and picking up three points at home, this is the kind of match where fans would have said it was on off-fay where we were under par yet still got a result. In the light of recent performances, it seems more like decent progress. However, I think we need to be mindful just how shocking Watford were and whose fans must be scratching their heads as to how the game was not won by them at half time.
I agree Ian. However, weren’t you one of the ones calling for Obefami this season? I’m sure you were one that said he’d be big this year.
FLT I really liked what I saw from Obefami last season. On the basis of those performances, he struck me as being this season's break through player. I still think he has got what it takes and will come good. The same will happen with Valery who I think is a decent prospect. A number of fans have been saying Slattery is a good prospect too but I cannot see Ralph risking him in the current situation. Looking at things at the moment, I still think Stuart Armstrong might surprise a few.
Watford are woeful and in the first 70 minutes we pretty much matched them. How on earth does this team turn in a very good performance against Arsenal from the kick off, and then play like this? Stephens was caught out for their goal but over the 90 minutes he did ok, not great but definitely ok. Cedric should not be playing. He is lazy and clearly doesn't want to be here. Get shot of him as soon as possible. Bertrand is a very good player but clearly his heart isn't in it these days and he is just doing what he has to. PEH was again very poor and although he drew the foul, didn't do much more than huff and puff his way through the match. I would pull him and play Romeu, but that is unlikely to happen. I get the impression he would leave if a decent offer came in, but the way he is playing that's unlikely. He would fit well in the Burnley clog dancing team. Danny Ings should be made captain. He loves the club, loves scoring and supports and encourages everyone as much as he can. JWP gets a lot of flack but watching him carefully shows that he does try very hard, makes a lot of tackles and is an all round positive impact on the team. Yes he plays sideways and back a lot but that is because the team is so flat and disjointed. Boufal and Djenepo bring a lot of fizz to the team and when the team clicks they lift the tempo enormously. Boufal also works well at tracking back and has some amazing skills. They both need to feature every game but sometimes Boufal is better as a sub because he sometimes seems to get a bit lost over 90 minutes. Redmond is obviously going through a confidence crisis at the moment and maybe needs to be rested? Not sure on that one. If we continue to play the first half like we did yesterday we will get relegated. We were dire and didn't really deserve to come out of that with 3 points. Lady luck was on our side, but the truth of it is we were bloody awful for 70% of the match. Obviously others might feel very differently about it.
Some interesting points there Kaito - I'd also take Pierre and Redders out of the team for Wednesday. Redmond I think could do with with a game or two coming off the bench and Pierre has just been awful for ages now. I'd also be pleased to see Danny get the armband.
Apparently they didn't get the camera angle that showed the ball clearly hitting Djenepo's hand until 10 minutes after the goal. VAR really has been our best friend.
Good analysis & pretty much spot on imo. To many players not putting the extra effort in during that 1st 70mins & that’s really inexcusable. Fantastic 3 points tho & now onto Wednesday. Its all about whether Ralph can get a tune out of the team, Fingers x’d.
